Want to recommend a book, or a series of books?

[sjmiller]

Well, not being one who is heavily into reading yet another fantasy series, I have several stand alone books to recommend. At least one will not suit your taste, but I have to recommend it anyway.

"Ruled Brittannia" by Harry Turtledove. Imagine what England would be like if the Spanish Armada had defeated the English Navy. Now add in William Shakespeare as part of a plot to overturn the Spanish occupying force. The story is wonderfully convoluted, the language (as someone who has studied Elizabethan English) is fantastic, and the book is highly enjoyable.

"Lamb" by Christopher Moore. The subtitle of the book is "The Gospel according to Biff, Christ's Childhood Friend." The book is a delightful romp through the unknown years of Joshua bar Joseph's (Jesus) life and what "really" happened during that time. If you like satirical comedy, then this might hit the right place, otherwise it might offend. Who know?

"War for the Oaks" by Emma Bull. The seelie and unseelie courts are at war, but not in some fantasy setting. This takes place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They need a human involved to make this permanent, and that's where a local rock/folk musician comes into the story. There's war, intrigue, music, and romance all tied into a very clever story.

There are some others I could suggest, but I will have to get the titles from home.

 

[Aus_Snow]

At least one will not suit your taste, but I have to recommend it anyway.

Which one - or why (if you're not referring to a specific one) ? I just have to know now.

Actually, a member of my family had praised the Turtledove book there, and I'd forgotten. Might be worth a read, from what I've heard. I'll look further into the others, too.

Oh and.. I like satirical comedy quite a bit (when it's good).


final 'by the way' (for this post), I swear:

The Initiate Brother and Gatherer of Clouds by Sean russell

What sets them apart from the run-of-the-mill .. er .. examples of whichever genre they belong to?

 

[Shallown]

I liked them because they present an Asian culture without being locked into Japanese versus Chinese. The small details went a long way to showcase the differences in European/American culture and the culture presented in the books. The author points out color of paper in messages having importance and the nuances of written poetry in getting a message across without losing face.

The books went a long way to helping me see and understand what "saving Face" and other oriental/Asian terms meant beyond the very pale and stereotypical ones we see in movies and other books. The characters really do seem to think and function within that culture/world. It didn't seemed as forced as others books with similar backgrounds.

I am reading initiate brother for the 4-5th time and catching things I didn't on other readings.

Later

 

[sjmiller]

Which one - or why (if you're not referring to a specific one) ? I just have to know now.

I was referring to Lamb. Some folks find it a bit heavy on taking pokes at religions. My general thought is that if you are thin skinned about this you shouldn't read it, but that is just me.

 

[SprigganTWG]

Stand-alones:
"Elantris"- Brad Sanderson

Actually it's Brandon Sanderson not Brad though my brother has been called much worse .

[shamelessplug] if your intrested in the book or have allready read it he's got sample chapters and chapter annotations at his site, www.brandonsanderson.com [\shamelessplug]

 

[Pale Violet Light]

Many suggestions.

I second (or third or whatever):

Gene Wolfe (Book of the New Sun, Wizard-Knight, etc.). Good stuff and intersting ideas. I often find he takes more than one read though to fully undestand what the heck he's on about though.

Ian M. Banks. Culture series: i.e. Consider Phlebas. Excellent space opera. Very clever, amusing... good guys occasionally a trifle invincible to hold tension though.

R Scott Bakkar. The darkness that comes before etc. A slighly different epic fantasy feel, interesting characters, well built world.

Tad Williams. the War of the Flowers was very good. Good urban fantasy, and you only need one book!

Robin Hobb - Liveship traders. Well written, avoids many of the usual cliches. A nice nautical change, too, if that floats your boat.

I'd also suggest (apologies if they have already been mentioned).

Ken Macleod - The Cassini division. Nice commie science fiction. Plots occasionally overly convoluted and contaminated with incomprehensible politics, but provokes thought.

Jennifer Fallon - Hythrun series. Mostly low magic fantasy setting, plenty of arse-kicking and head-chopping, with a fair bit of fantasy politics along the way. Entertaining.

David Eddings - in case you've had your head stuck up your bottom for the past two decades. They really are extremely entertaining, though they do hit nearly every cliche in the book. Doesn't matter which series you read, they're all pretty much the same.

The following are probably technically young adult fiction, but I have fond memories:

Maurice Gee - the Halfmen of O series. Kids-sucked-through-to-alternate-world stuff, but much more intelligent than most.

Susan cooper - the Dark is Rising sequence. A bit English (Celtic? whatever) in flavour, but big themes and mythological references, if you're into that sort of thing. Easy to read and well paced.

Plenty of more buried at the back of my mind, but with all the suggestions so far, you'll be set for at least a month or two.

 

[ShadowDenizen]

Actually it's Brandon Sanderson not Brad though my brother has been called much worse .

[shamelessplug] if your intrested in the book or have allready read it he's got sample chapters and chapter annotations at his site, www.brandonsanderson.com [\shamelessplug]

A thousand apologies!
And I'll chim in with the plug, too. Defnitely worth reading: along with "Rumor of Gems" it's one of my current favorites-- and it's a stand-alone, too!

I'll definitely have to check out the chapter annotations. I always enjoy getting an insight into the authors thought-processesses, since it makes the reading experience that much more fulfilling.

 

[Hijinks]

Steven Lawhead's Song of Albion series. About two modern day British universtity students who go back in time (to another plane? Been a while, I forget exactly...) where they become ensconced in celtic culture. Excellent series.

My favorite, though, is Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, and I only mention it here because it's historical, and you said you wanted historical suggestions. It has a bit of mysticism thrown in - the main protagonist goes back in time to 18th century Scotland and gets involved in the Scottish rebellion at Culloden, the attempt of Bonny Prince Charlie to return to claim the throne of Scotland, the French court of King Louis and, later, the American Revolution (yes she time travels across a couple of decades as well). EXCELLENT books, I can't recommend them enough to anyone. Great great writing, very thoroughly researched, very finely detailed, and full of battles, steamy lovin', witch burning (not a good thing), war and famine. Wonderful series.

I can't recommend the Shadow War series enough (Shadow Moon, Shadow Dawn, and Shadow Star) by Chris Claremont with ideas from George Lucas. It's a continuation of Willow, but Claremont fleshes out the world

Is there a book version of Willow to start it off? I'd rather start reading through the story I know, because it would have more details about the world... ?

 

[SprigganTWG]

No there isn't a book for Willow unless you can find a novelization of the movie which I don't know if there ever was one. I've also heard mixed reviews of the series, most people I know couldn't even finish the first book though I've heard the second two are slightly better. Though all the people I know are like English majors/editors who are quite picky about what they like and don't like.

A thousand apologies!
And I'll chim in with the plug, too. Defnitely worth reading: along with "Rumor of Gems" it's one of my current favorites-- and it's a stand-alone, too!

I'll definitely have to check out the chapter annotations. I always enjoy getting an insight into the authors thought-processesses, since it makes the reading experience that much more fulfilling.

heh no problem. Feel free to e-mail him (it on his site under contact) and let him know what you think, he responds to all the mail he gets though it might take him a week or two since he's got several book signing and a con he's going to throughout September.

 

[Thanee]

I liked the Quicksilver Trilogy by Stan Nicholls (I don't think the third book is out yet). It's a fun read and a nicely 'modernized' fantasy world.

Bye
Thanee